South Dakotans Stand Up for Freedom and Privacy, Reject Abortion Ban Again

Washington, DC – Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised South Dakota voters' rejection of Measure 11, the second abortion ban to be placed on the ballot in the last two years.

"Tonight's victory belongs to the people of South Dakota who rejected this second attempt to put the government in charge of personal, private decisions," Keenan said. "On behalf of our members across the country, we salute the leaders of NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota and their allies, notably the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, for guarding the fundamental values of freedom and privacy for South Dakota women and their families."

Casey Murschel – executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota, former Republican legislator, and key leader in the coordinated effort to defeat the ban – said the proposal's second consecutive loss hopefully will stop future attacks on a woman's right to choose.

"South Dakotans faced long odds against a dangerous and deceptive abortion ban backed by a misleading anti-choice marketing scheme," Murschel said. "We never wavered in talking to our neighbors at church or at the grocery store about the need to stop this abortion ban. Tonight, the message to South Dakota's anti-choice groups is clear: Enough is enough—stop trying to make our state the testing ground for efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade."

NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota was an early leader in the state-based coalition that successfully defeated the abortion ban in 2006 and then remained organized to fight an expected second attempt by anti-choice forces. NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota mobilized a network of nearly 1,000 activists in the state, and delivered numerous volunteers to the campaign.